Tag Archives: evening

Photographers, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Evening Light, Upper Young Lake

September 18, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

Early evening light on a tree-covered rocky peninsula at Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

I’ve visited these lakes almost annually for a number of years, since I first visited one autumn on a long day hike from the Tuolumne Meadows area. Many people visit the lower lake on day hikes, quite a few others backpack to the area and visit all three, and climbers on their way to Mount Conness also pass through the area. My plan was to stay several days so that I could do a lot of photography in the area. The upper lake provides a beautiful sub-alpine scene, surrounded by relatively level meadows with small hills interspersed with rocky rises and groves of trees. Because the area is open to the west there can be stunning evening light here… and that I precisely why I went to the lake on this evening.

I was camped at the lower lake, where I had photographed in the morning. After I finished up my morning photography I spent a good part of the late morning and early afternoon eating a post-shoot late breakfast, more or less hanging out, reading, doing a few camp chores, and finally having a very early dinner at about 3:00 – the plan is to eat the big meal of the day early, go off and do photography as the evening light approaches, and then return to camp after dark and have something to eat before climbing into the sleeping bag.

The route that I prefer to use to get to the upper lake is not really exactly a trail. Anticipating that I’d be returning from the upper lake via this route in near or actual darkness, as I climbed it I made sure to remember a series of landmarks that I could use to find my way back. At various junctures on the route – as I would do on any similar route – I stopped to look backwards and fix in my mind certain obvious route cues that I could follow on the way back: stay above the thicker trees, stay in the middle of the bench, cross the low rise while heading straight toward a certain distant ridge, begin the descent at the two groves of trees next to the lake, and so on. I was so focused on this that when I reached my final landmark at the upper lake I barely looked around – I arrived at the final grove and immediately turned right to walk the short distance to the lakeshore and look for compositions. At about this point I recalled that I also had planned to check out camping possibilities for a future visit, so I looked back up at the grove I had just left.

I saw a tent and two people and tripods – all of which I had completely overlooked at first, so fixated was I on my “route.” I walked back up to say “hi” when I noticed that one of the two photographers looked quite familiar. I approached and said, “You bear a striking resemblance to John Sexton” – which made a lot of sense in that he was John Sexton. (If you don’t know who he is… you should. Follow the link to his web site and perhaps do a bit of searching to find out more.) I have, of course, known of John’s wonderful photography for some time and I had most recently been to a lecture at the opening of a show of his work in Carmel earlier this summer. The other photographer was Anne Larsen.

The wilderness is always full of surprises, but meeting John and Anne in the Yosemite back-country was one of the most pleasant in recent memory. We spoke for a while until the light began to become more interesting, but at various times during the evening we again ran into one another and talked about this and that. The next morning I met them once again as we were heading back to the trail head. (I felt a bit guilty about my “tiny” 15 pound load of photography equipment – they were each carrying close to 30 pounds of film gear!)

The photograph is of a tree-covered rocky rise at the end of a narrow curving peninsula that forms a small lagoon near the outlet of the lake. My initial thought had been to photograph a small tree near the edge of the lake – one that I have photographed in the past – but John correctly pointed out that it would be in shadow at the time of best light, so I decided to focus on this subject instead.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City

High Line Park and IAC Building

September 15, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

People taking a summer evening walk along the High Line Elevated Park in Chelsea with the IAC Building and the 100 11th Building in the background, New York City.

I only spent a short time on one evening walking along the High Line Park, but I certainly found it to be an intriguing place, and one that I intend to visit again. I first stopped to photograph this spot when I saw a couple of musicians performing on the bench just beyond the people walking and standing in the foreground. But the “urban landscape” of buildings beyond is obviously very striking, especially in the evening light. I cannot identify all of the buildings in the photograph – my first attempts to find them via Google maps failed because the buildings are so new that you only see empty space and construction sites there. I finally determined that the building on the left with the “swooping” lines is the IAC Building, designed by Frank Gehry – which is obvious in retrospect. The taller building in the background (which I had taken to calling the “Mondrian building”) is the “100 11th” building, designed by a French architect named Nouvel.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brick Walls and Building Near High Line Park

September 14, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brick walls and a building under construction above the High Line Elevated Park, New York City.

Another bit of architecture photographed from the High Line Elevated Park in Chelsea on a summer evening in August. The most interesting features of this evening included the “mackerel sky” clouds to the west, which are reflected in the windows of the upper building, and the warm light of early evening. The juxtapositions of angles and textures (especially the bricks and the glass windows) got my attention as we walked along the High Line. I cannot identify the building, but it appears to be under construction.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Ice Cream Man in His Truck, New York City

September 8, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A mobile ice-cream vendor parked in his truck at night near Madison Square Garden on 7th Avenue in New York City.

The street vendors are certainly a part of the glorious sensory assault that is Manhattan, at least for this California visitor. They are everywhere, and they range from the generic hotdog/pretzel vendors, through folks who look like they bought a few cases of water and decided to sell them, to some that seem almost gourmet. Two small stories… I didn’t make a photograph, but when we were in lower Manhattan in the financial district we saw a line-up of perhaps a dozen mobile food carts around one small square selling a wide range of foods. While the lines at most of them included a person or two… one stand had a line stretching all the way across the square. Second story – which I’ll tell on myself: One morning we wanted to grab a pretzel. In the process I quickly forgot one of the first rules of buying from these guys, namely settle the price before getting the food. A NYC pretzel ought to cost perhaps a couple bucks, but I managed to double the price by asking for the “goods” first, taking them from the vendor, and only then asking for the price. Let’s just say he gave me the “tourist special price,” and I didn’t feel like enough of a jerk to hand them back to him over the price. :-)

This truck was parked at a corner on 7th Avenue almost across the street from Madison Square Garden, and seemed to be doing a good business during the twilight hour on this evening.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.